(Mis)Diagnosing Sjogren's

Sjogren's Syndrome is an autoimmune disease that affects more than four million people in the United States, 90% of them being women, mostly between the ages of 35 and 45. Half of those who are diagnosed with Sjogren's Syndrome today experienced common symptoms such as dry mouth or dry eyes for three or more years before receiving an accurate diagnosis from a healthcare professional. While lack of patient-physician dialogue about symptoms is partly to blame, there are many other diseases that have very similar effects as Sjogren's. More attention to individual symptoms of patients as well as better research on the disease itself should be conducted.

In brief, the Sjogren's Syndrome illness causes the immune cells in the body to attack and destroy moisture-producing glands which results in dry mouth and eyes. Additional symptoms include fatigue, joint pain, digestive problems and overall dryness, and more severe symptoms can arise if the disease is not properly diagnosed and treated, such as blindness, loss of memory, loss of taste and smell, etc. There are two problems in the medical field today when it comes to Sjogren's Syndrome; one problem is that it is only treatable, not curable. The other problem is that it is often misdiagnosed as another illness because there are many other diseases that share similar characteristics to that of Sjogren's. This means that late-diagnosed patients have to live the rest of their lives with the already-progressed and un-curable disease. We need to descrease the percentage of patients misdiagnosed so that Sjogren's victims can be treated at an early stage (Sjogren's can be very serious, but not fatal).

The diseases that it can be confused with are often linked to Sjogren's, meaning they are often present along with it. (There are three types of Sjogren's: (1)sicca complex, which is just dry eyes and mouth, (2)primary, which encompasses all of the traditional symptoms, such as dryness and fatigue, and (3)secondary, which is a combination of primary along with another autoimmune disease). The illnesses that are similar to Sjogren's are: Fibromyalgia, Lupus, Arthritis (...and I am sure there are many more to add to the list).

In the event that you are diagnosed with any of these illnesses, or not diagnosed by any, and you feel the symptoms of dryness, do not try to combat the dryness with drinking more water.
Doing so can actually wash away existing saliva which contains beneficial components not found in water, and thereby make dry-mouth symptoms worse. If this is happening to you, tell your healthcare professional. Speaking up to your doctors is one of the most important ways to avoid misdiagnosis. You could have something more or less serious than you think...